Vintage Native Acoma Friendship Pot by Marilyn Ray, Signed (2008)

Details

Description

Artist: Marilyn Ray (Marilyn Henderson Ray) (Acoma Pueblo, b. 1954)

Title: [Untitled Friendship Bowl]

Date: 2008

Medium: Hand-coiled clay with … Read more Artist: Marilyn Ray (Marilyn Henderson Ray) (Acoma Pueblo, b. 1954)

Title: [Untitled Friendship Bowl]

Date: 2008

Medium: Hand-coiled clay with natural pigments

Dimensions: Height 5 in. (12.7 cm); Diameter 6 in. (15.2 cm)

Signature: Signed on the bottom with artist's hallmark (hand-drawn lizard); original price in pencil

Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age. One of the hands of the koshare has a chip on the top. Please refer to photos for details.


Description:


A polychrome Friendship Bowl by Acoma Pueblo artist Marilyn Ray. The exterior is decorated with three koshare (sacred clown) children, a puppy, lizards, and geometric designs. The interior features a duck, a puppy, and a butterfly. The bowl is hand-coiled from natural clay and painted with traditional mineral and plant-derived pigments. The piece is signed on the bottom with Ray's characteristic hand-drawn lizard hallmark and retains the original price in pencil.



Artist Biography: Marilyn Ray (Acoma Pueblo, b. 1954)


Marilyn Ray was born in 1954 into the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. She is a member of the Yellow Corn Clan. Ray began learning pottery at age twelve from her grandmother, renowned Acoma potter Dolores S. Sanchez, who taught her to gather and process natural clay and pigments from within the pueblo.


By age eighteen, Ray had mastered traditional pottery techniques. She is recognized for her innovative storyteller figures and Friendship Bowls, which depict children, animals, and narrative scenes inspired by her childhood memories. Her work includes storytellers, Nativities, Singing Maidens, Corn Maidens, and animal figures. She continues to use traditional methods, gathering her own clay and natural pigments, hand-coiling her vessels, and firing outdoors.


Ray's work has earned over 300 prize ribbons from major exhibitions including the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard Museum Show, and the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonials. She signs her work with a hand-drawn lizard hallmark.

Museum Holdings:

National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution See less